The Denver Broncos have some tough decisions coming up in terms of the roster and trying to create money for free agents and re-signing quality player — and all the while dealing with one last year of a massive dead cap hit of $38 million due to the disastrous Russell Wilson contract.
One way for the Broncos to create money where there currently is none would be to release players in salary cap moves, with Bleacher Report listing a pair of defensive players as the top 2 possible salary cap casualties for a team that just made the postseason for the first time in a decade.
Those 2 players were safety P.J. Locke ($5.2 million) and linebacker Alex Singleton ($6.9 million), who would free up approximately $10 million in salary cap space with a minimal dead cap hit of approximately $2 million.
From Bleacher Report: “P.J. Locke made his way from a reserve player to a full-time starter in 2024, but that wasn’t necessarily a good thing for the Broncos defense. He was often the weak link in pass coverage and gave up a passer rating of 125.8 when targeted … (Singleton) played well in the three games that he played this season and has been a fairly consistent starter in his first two seasons with the Broncos. The problem is that he’s a 31-year-old linebacker coming off an ACL tear.”
If the Broncos were to cut Locke, he would likely be able to find another home fairly quickly thanks to his experience. He’s coming off a career-high 15 starts in 2024 along with a career high 74 tackles.
Locke has spent his entire career with the Broncos after making the roster as an undrafted free agent out of Texas in 2020 after spending 2019 on Denver’s practice squad. Locke didn’t start a game his first 3 seasons and has made all 23 of his career starts over the last 2 seasons.
The problem with Locke is he just hasn’t been very good given a chance to get on the field for an extended period of time, with an anemic, 57.5 grade from PFF, ranking him 123rd out of 170 eligible NFL safeties.
Despite his age, the Broncos might want to think twice about cutting Singleton, who signed a 3-year, $18 million contract in March 2023.
Singleton has been wildly productive over the last 4 seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles and Broncos, when he’s averaged 149.2 tackles per season and had a career high 177 tackles for the Broncos in 2023.
Through 3 games in 2024, Singleton was on track to equal that production and was finally going to get the chance to do on an elite team — he had 31 tackles through the first 3 games before his injury with 1 interception.
Singleton’s path to the NFL is one of the most unusual you’ll probably ever come across. He didn’t play in his first NFL regular season game until he was 26 years old after going undrafted out of Montana State in 2015. That’s because Singleton spent 2 seasons on the practice squads for the Minnesota Vikings, Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots before playing 3 seasons in the CFL for the Calgary Stampeders.
Singleton was named CFL Most Outstanding Defensive Player in 2017 and led the Stampeders to the 2018 Grey Cup championship before making the active roster for the Eagles in 2019.
The Denver Broncos have some tough decisions coming up in terms of the roster and trying to create money for free agents and re-signing quality player — and all the while dealing with one last year of a massive dead cap hit ...
Coach Mike McDaniel and the Miami Dolphins are inching closer to a fourth consecutive offseason search for a defensive coordinator. NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported early Monday morning that the New Orleans Saints will bring in Anthony Weaver for a second interview for their open head ...
There weren't many bright spots for the Detroit Lions in a dismal playoff loss, but there was one notable positive. Right guard Kevin Zeitler suffered a hamstring injury in the regular season finale, and he was unable to to play against the Commanders. ...
The New York Giants' 2024 season will go down as one of the most chaotic in franchise history. A 3-14 record, a quarterback carousel, and a disorganized front office were bad enough, but the decision to put it all on display in ...
Following their 45-31 loss to the Washington Commanders in the divisional round, the Detroit Lions' season has come to an end. This means the departures of Lions' offensive and defensive coordinators Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn are imminent as both coaches have been top candidates ...